Translation from English

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Deep South in Winter Storm Emergency-- BBC


Deep South in winter storm emergency

A man walked along a snow-covered street in Muskegon, Michigan, on 27 January 2014  
The US South and Midwest are facing another winter storm

Related Stories

The US Deep South, a region used to sultry weather and hurricane warnings, is preparing for a severe winter storm.

States of emergency have been declared in the southern states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
As many as 50 million people across the region could be affected in a winter storm over the next two days.

Many schools in the region are closed and road crews are at the ready. About 3,000 flights were grounded by weather on Tuesday.

Dangerous situation
  Forecasters predicted up to 1ft (30.5cm) of snow in parts of Virginia and up to 10in along the North Carolina coast.

Motorists from Texas to Virginia have been warned to stay off the roads.

"This is a very dangerous situation because snow and ice are very rare," Robert Latham, executive director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, told USA Today.

"We need everyone to have an emergency plan together for this."

The potential for ice was more of a concern than the snow totals, Jason Deese with the National Weather Service said.

Traffic came to a halt in the early afternoon in Atlanta as snow began falling and commuters tried to leave work early.

In northern Alabama, some schools held classes, but quickly had to change course, dismissing students early when the storm arrived earlier than predicted.

Officials feared icy road conditions would force hundreds of students to spend the night in classrooms or gyms.

"They have food and we have gas heat and the electricity is on, so that is a possibility," DeKalb County Emergency Management Director Anthony Clifton told the Associated Press news agency.

"We will have a campout before we will send them out into an unsafe situation."


Snow 'rollers'
  Four people died in Itawamba County, Mississippi, when a fire destroyed a mobile home. Investigators believe a heater caused the blaze.

Parts of the US Midwest, meanwhile, were struggling through another bout of near-record cold temperatures.

Schools were closed in several central US states for a second consecutive day because of the cold.
Parts of Minnesota saw temperatures plunge to as low as 35 to 50 degrees below zero Fahrenheit as the state struggled with a shortage of natural gas due to an earlier pipeline explosion in Canada.
Residents in the US states of Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania also witnessed an unusual weather phenomenon.

Numerous naturally occurring donut-like snowballs - known as snow rollers and formed when wind blows snow along the ground - were reported.

A woman and her dog walked through a field filled with snow rollers near Oil City, Pennsylvania, on 27 January 2014 Donut-like snow rollers were reported in Pennsylvania (pictured) and elsewhere
Snow rollers dot a field near Oil City, Pennsylvania, on 27 January 2014 Snow rollers are formed when wind blows snow along the ground
Traffic crept along I-55 in Jackson, Mississippi, on 28 January 2014 Snow and ice gridlocked traffic in parts of Mississippi
A man used a snow blower in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 27 January 2014 A man using a snow blower in Minneapolis, Minnesota
An avalanche blocked a roadway in Keystone Canyon in Alaska on 26 January 2014 An avalanche covered the only road into the coastal community of Valdez, Alaska
A postal worker delivered mail in subzero temperatures in Berea, Ohio, on 28 January 2014 Postal workers braved subzero temperatures in Ohio
A homeless man bundled up in blankets in Chicago, Illinois, on 28 January 2014 Chicago residents attempted to stay warm as the temperature dropped to -23C (-11F)

More on This Story

Related Stories

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please leave a comment-- or suggestions, particularly of topics and places you'd like to see covered